Friday 2nd October
Happy Friday to you all!
I hope that you have all had a good week. We started the week with some delightful autumn weather - the sun shining, a gentle breeze, bright blue skies - and we end the week with grey clouds and lots of rain! Many of you will have seen me at the beginning and end of the day, struggling with my new umbrella as it keeps blowing inside out. It is quite funny when it happens, especially when it happens to other people as well. As the weather is now turning colder please do remember to wear a coat to school and sensible footwear. That message is not just for you children, it is also for the staff - including me.
This week I was absolutely thrilled to hear speeches from our year six children. The children had been invited to put themselves forward for a prefect role in school. This is a really important role as ambassadors for our school. A prefect is someone who supports the staff to make sure Olive Hill is the best school EVER! They are the voice of the children. We expect our prefects to role model our values of happiness, confidence, responsibility and success. 17 of our wonderful year six children put themselves forward to be a prefect, and we are really proud of them all. I have watched many of those children grow since they joined us in reception (or before) and to see that they now have the confidence to stand in front of others and deliver a speech fills me with pride. They all spoke about wanting to be a role model and being respectful and kind towards others. Many of them wanted to encourage everyone to be the best they could be and they also spoke about compassion and trust. All 17 did really well and they showed they have the values of a good leader, who knows, maybe one day they could lead a school, a company or even our country.
Thank you to all of the families who have shown great community awareness by adhering to our expectations on drop-off and collection. You will be supporting us to keep our school open. There have been some funny moments when children have not recognised their grown-up, or even misidentified their grown-up. There has certainly been a lot of waving arms and discussions with members of staff that go like this:
“Your mum is over there”
“No it’s not”
(Parent waving arms)
“Yes, it is”
“No it’s not”
(Parent moves closer, continuing to wave arms)
“Oh yes, it is them”
(Child runs over to parent)
Thank you to everyone who supported us on Thursday by encouraging your child to have a school lunch. The children really enjoyed their pizza and chips - with many comparing it to McDonalds (it was served in a box). The government collect this information three times a year - so expect another letter come January.
There is a lot of talk about future lockdowns at the moment, fingers crossed this won’t happen, but as a school we must be prepared for this. Please let the school know if you do not have access to the Internet and/or devices at home. This will ensure that in the event of a lockdown, or in the event that your child needs to self-isolate, we are able to provide remote learning for your child in the correct format.
An important part of our school is our community. In recent years we have be lucky enough to be supported by fantastic group of parents and grandparents: The Friends of Olive Hill. They have organised a number of events that have raised money for the school so we can afford to purchase the nice little extras - such as colourful seating for the playground. Although the current situation is making fundraising a very difficult task, the group are still very keen to support the school and our families. Currently, they are meeting virtually and are always looking for new members. If you are able to give up some of your time to support this group, then please make contact with them through the Olive Hill Parent’s Facebook Group.
Despite the weather forecast, I hope that you are all able to enjoy your weekend and spend time together as a family. Perhaps you will visit the local park and splash in puddles; maybe you’ll have a pyjama day and watch movies; or bake cakes; or do some art and craft; or read a book together; or play with your toys - whatever it is that you do, do it together, have fun and stay safe!